CVE-2021-26697
MEDIUMCVE-2021-26697 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5.3) Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in apache-airflow. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2021-26697 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Improper Authentication in Apache Airflow
Real-World Exposure
apache-airflowReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects PyPI packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
The lineage endpoint of the deprecated Experimental API was not protected by authentication in Airflow 2.0.0. This allowed unauthenticated users to hit that endpoint. This is low-severity issue as the attacker needs to be aware of certain parameters to pass to that endpoint and even after can just get some metadata about a DAG and a Task. This issue affects Apache Airflow 2.0.0.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | apache-airflow | ≥ 2.0.0&&< 2.0.1rc1 | 2.0.1rc1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for apache-airflow. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update apache-airflow to 2.0.1rc1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2021-26697 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2021-26697 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2021-26697. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2021-26697 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2021-26697 across PyPI dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.